Texsox Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 *but wish you had? I teach a course for college bound high school seniors. The fall semester is mostly about applications, scholarships, etc. As we get deeper into spring I have a lot of flexibility in curriculum. I'm always considering material to teach that will be practical. For example we explore retirement plans, career pathways, and laundry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 This feels like one of those Facebook posts where everyone complains about all the stuff they did learn/teach in HS but they either didn't pay attention or just forgot. Things like balancing a checkbook, doing taxes, filling out job applications, buying a house, applying for a loan, maintaining a car, etc... I learned, or at least was taught, *all* this stuff in HS. Some stuff I learned outside of an actual classroom but I was still HS age. Some stuff I knew the basics of but didn't really "get it" until I had to go through it a few times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CentralChamps21 Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 What's a checkbook? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 47 minutes ago, CentralChamps21 said: What's a checkbook? It's something people that graduated in the 90's had to learn to use. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 I know my parents taught me to put money into a savings account....which was decent advice when they taught me....but obviously makes zero sense now. Kids need to get educated on compound interest and what can happen if you start investing at 18. Show them those charts about how much money they will have in 30 years if they invest 2500 a year for 30 years at an 8% return. So vital and I feel like it's just not something that is taught correctly. It's hard to get an 18 year to buy into that, or understand....but I guess that's up to the teacher and finding ways to get it to sink in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Parkman Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Tony said: I know my parents taught me to put money into a savings account....which was decent advice when they taught me....but obviously makes zero sense now. Kids need to get educated on compound interest and what can happen if you start investing at 18. Show them those charts about how much money they will have in 30 years if they invest 2500 a year for 30 years at an 8% return. So vital and I feel like it's just not something that is taught correctly. It's hard to get an 18 year to buy into that, or understand....but I guess that's up to the teacher and finding ways to get it to sink in. You need to do both. My folks taught me the value of both investing and having liquid cash. If you only invest, the penalties for taking money out when you need it are harsh. It's really too bad I never made enough money as an adult to do either. You can't personal finance your way out of rising costs and falling wages. In terms of the thread, nobody ever told me about the value of networking. It's the single most important part of career success. It's not what you know, it's who you know. However, this is a relatively recent phenomenon and idk if it was a reasonable ask when Boomers and Xers lived in a completely different working climate in their youth. Edited February 7, 2022 by Jack Parkman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quin Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 18 minutes ago, Tony said: I know my parents taught me to put money into a savings account....which was decent advice when they taught me....but obviously makes zero sense now. Kids need to get educated on compound interest and what can happen if you start investing at 18. Show them those charts about how much money they will have in 30 years if they invest 2500 a year for 30 years at an 8% return. So vital and I feel like it's just not something that is taught correctly. It's hard to get an 18 year to buy into that, or understand....but I guess that's up to the teacher and finding ways to get it to sink in. I keep trying to get my wife to talk to her dad - who used to be an accountant until he recently retired - to open an investing account. She has an insane amount in savings due to a lot of fiscal know-how on her part. He told her she needs to make her money work for her, she took that to mean "get a savings account with interest." She thinks that means only a savings account, because that's the only safe method in her mind. I've encouraged her to talk to him about Series I bonds (7.12% initial interest rate) if she wants more security in investing The crazy thing is, she's been saving since she entered the workforce 10 years ago. I only really started saving since mid-2019, when I had both a financial wake up call and got a better paying job, and I have roughly 40% of her savings due to using apps like Acorns and Digit. Edit: In lieu of Parkman's post, my savings are spread across an IRA, investing account, and a savings account. New job recently added a pension with matching contributions from work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Tony said: I know my parents taught me to put money into a savings account....which was decent advice when they taught me....but obviously makes zero sense now. Kids need to get educated on compound interest and what can happen if you start investing at 18. Show them those charts about how much money they will have in 30 years if they invest 2500 a year for 30 years at an 8% return. So vital and I feel like it's just not something that is taught correctly. It's hard to get an 18 year to buy into that, or understand....but I guess that's up to the teacher and finding ways to get it to sink in. I had 2 kids and a house by the time I was 21. I didn't have any extra money at that point in my life. Edited February 7, 2022 by Iwritecode Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 8 minutes ago, Iwritecode said: I had 2 kids and a house by the time I was 21. I didn't have any extra money at that point in my life. Everyone has a different situation. Because you didn't have any extra money at that point doesn't mean it shouldn't be taught. In terms of what @Jack Parkman said....It kind of goes without saying I'm not advocating investing every dollar into securities. The average interest rate in a savings account right now is 0.06 percent. Any money that I'm "putting away" isn't going into a SA, it's going into Index Fund ETF or a safe bond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Tony said: Everyone has a different situation. Because you didn't have any extra money at that point doesn't mean it shouldn't be taught. Oh, I agree with you. In fact, it probably was taught to me. I knew I should be saving/investing money. Even when I got a "real" job they always talked about putting money into my retirement plan every year. I just didn't have any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 If I say the Rule of 72 and you don't know what it is, you should immediately go look it up and learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 3 hours ago, Iwritecode said: This feels like one of those Facebook posts where everyone complains about all the stuff they did learn/teach in HS but they either didn't pay attention or just forgot. Things like balancing a checkbook, doing taxes, filling out job applications, buying a house, applying for a loan, maintaining a car, etc... I learned, or at least was taught, *all* this stuff in HS. Some stuff I learned outside of an actual classroom but I was still HS age. Some stuff I knew the basics of but didn't really "get it" until I had to go through it a few times. lol I am with you. This stuff was required and was desperately boring. You know what I wish was impressed upon me 1000x over in high school? Math is literally a skill and one that you get better at, and that STEM majors are more about endurance than finishing with a sterling A record. I think by far the coolest stuff at our school was A) a teacher applied for a grant that brought some new version of CAD software. At a HS reunion I learned nearly all the kids that took that in my class got internships in this since they had familiarity few professionals had and had become engineers/architects and B) a different teacher applied for a grant to bring in genetic analysis tools where we were sequencing genome. I did take this class and it was my favorite STEM course. I just feel like you can't learn everything in school, but some stuff you can only learn in school. I learned how to hand-file taxes in high school. I have never hand-filed taxes since and googled it when I needed it. That was 3 weeks plus of having us deal with every possible deduction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 52 minutes ago, Iwritecode said: Oh, I agree with you. In fact, it probably was taught to me. I knew I should be saving/investing money. Even when I got a "real" job they always talked about putting money into my retirement plan every year. I just didn't have any. lol, I've been there plenty myself, I get it haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 (edited) Our education in high school and college consisted of memorizing everything imaginable so you could pass or ace tests and forget everything a few week after the memorization. There was little "learning," just figure out rote memorization was the best way to an A. ... I'm not talking about math (algebra, geometry, physics, etc.) classes however. Those for us dummies was somehow getting a passing grade despite having no mathematical ability and just taking the bare minimum math/science classes as required by a liberal arts type major. ... We never had teachers address stuff that would have been nice to know like how to invest, how to buy a house, how to fix a car, how to cook, some of the things u've mentioned. Edited April 8, 2022 by greg775 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beast Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 I wish there were more classes around political science and government and fewer around anthropology, psychology and sociology. I took anthropology and psychology and wasn’t impressed with what I learned. They also need more math and science classes to help kids who want to get up to the next level of classes be able to do so. And don’t require foreign language, give kids the option to do a language, trades or math and science track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 On 4/8/2022 at 5:57 PM, greg775 said: Our education in high school and college consisted of memorizing everything imaginable so you could pass or ace tests and forget everything a few week after the memorization. There was little "learning," just figure out rote memorization was the best way to an A. ... I'm not talking about math (algebra, geometry, physics, etc.) classes however. Those for us dummies was somehow getting a passing grade despite having no mathematical ability and just taking the bare minimum math/science classes as required by a liberal arts type major. ... We never had teachers address stuff that would have been nice to know like how to invest, how to buy a house, how to fix a car, how to cook, some of the things u've mentioned. I find it hard to believe most HS don't have consumer education classes (where you learn how to invest and buy a hose) auto shop classes (where you learn how to fix a car) or home economics classes (where you learn how to cook). Mine had all 3. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 2 hours ago, Iwritecode said: I find it hard to believe most HS don't have consumer education classes (where you learn how to invest and buy a hose) auto shop classes (where you learn how to fix a car) or home economics classes (where you learn how to cook). Mine had all 3. My high school economics teacher "tried" to teach us about the stock market, sort of. That's it though. No stuff besides rote memorization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 (edited) On 2/7/2022 at 9:06 AM, Iwritecode said: This feels like one of those Facebook posts where everyone complains about all the stuff they did learn/teach in HS but they either didn't pay attention or just forgot. Things like balancing a checkbook, doing taxes, filling out job applications, buying a house, applying for a loan, maintaining a car, etc... I learned, or at least was taught, *all* this stuff in HS. Some stuff I learned outside of an actual classroom but I was still HS age. Some stuff I knew the basics of but didn't really "get it" until I had to go through it a few times. I'm not complaining, I just learned the best way for me to get a perfect GPA was to memorize everything in sight. Worked for me. Edited April 12, 2022 by greg775 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 Funny enough this came up in my recommended videos on Youtube. I guess I've always sort of known this. When people ask me how I learn I've always said it kinds depends on what I'm trying to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Grinder Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 On 2/7/2022 at 9:16 AM, CentralChamps21 said: What's a checkbook? Better question is Whats a check? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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